Enrique Gabetta

That’s What I Read (games)

I read the newspaper at day’s breakA young boyTwelveBig smileToothy … some spacesPre-bracesStuck a ten point buckWith bow and arrowFrom fifty feetQuite a featI thoughtFifty feetBow and arrowA young lad’s nervesStriking a blowThrough a fleetDeer’s heartHe tracked him for an hour …The story read

I cut the picture of the boy and the buck out of the Daily GazetteI wanted to place it in my BibleBut …I didn’t know whereI just knew it was significant … in some way …It must have been excitingI was thinking … againFor the teenLike David or JonathanI’m sure they huntedWere skilledAnd celebratedA kill … and feastedUntil they parted …But … I felt a kindred sadnessFor the deerBountifully alive … fellowshipping with creation … one minuteThen … suddenlyStruck with fear(ish) pain … the nextFollowed by … silenceAll in 60 minutes …I’m sure they …The teen’s family … said graceAte the venison … back strap first … of course … the most tenderAnd froze or gave away the rest …HeThe buckDidn’t die in complete vainHe fed them …The huntersI didn’t read thatJust ponderedInstead

In my half-buttoned safari jacket pocketI placed my worn, smooth black leather BibleWe were the first at the veterinarian’s officeMy Lassie and IIt was a cool autumn morning … shadows were shrinking thoughShe was ill … that one kind of ill … a final illAn aged friendPanting in my armsShe didn’t weigh as much …Anymore …We should have been on the riverBut …I handed my friend to my friendThe docHe tried to smile … failed … but triedI followed them to the backAnd opened my BiblePage 857I had it marked with the picture of the boy and that deerFrom the GazetteI had read when the shadows were longerI thought about the buckHe did not fear the arrow …But that he would not make it back … to the brookOne last … timeThat’s what I pondered …And when Lassie lay on the coolOf the tableIn the backShe licked my handAndI whispered in her ear … loud enough for both of us to hear“… You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,Nor the arrow that flies by day … “That’s what I read …